Damaging storms to target northeastern US late Friday

A new round of severe weather will threaten communities across the interior Northeast with damaging winds and downpours at week’s end.

The same system that triggered damaging winds and even a few tornadoes from Wisconsin to Kansas on Thursday will swing eastward on Friday.

The eastern Great Lakes, western New England and part of the Ohio Valley will be at greatest risk for severe thunderstorms beginning Friday afternoon, according to AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologist Brian Koochel.

The clash between warm, humid conditions ahead of the system and October-like air in its wake will give the storms a boost in intensity.

Residents or travelers in and around Burlington, Vermont; Syracuse and Buffalo, New York; Erie and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, will need to be on the lookout for the storms Friday afternoon and evening.

Southeastern Ontario and southwest Quebec can also be rattled by the violent weather, including the major metro areas of Toronto and Montreal.

Similar to Thursday’s severe weather event, damaging wind gusts up to 60 mph that can knock over trees and power lines will be the primary mode of severe weather late Friday.

Even a moderate wind gust of 40 mph could be enough to cause tree damage after Florence left the ground saturated early this week.

Downpours that reduce visibility for motorists and frequent lightning will also accompany any of the storms.

Download the free AccuWeather app to receive the latest severe weather alerts and timing of the storms.

“The overall threat for tornadoes is quite low, but a couple of brief spin-ups cannot be ruled out before the sun sets,”

Koochel said.

It only takes a single tornado on a given day to cause complete devastation in a community.

The storms will progress to the east-southeast into the evening hours, but they are expected to fall well short of reaching the major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor.

A shift to drier and more comfortable conditions will coincide with the official start of fall on Saturday.

Temperatures will be slashed by up to 20 degrees Fahrenheit from Friday to Saturday, topping out in the 60s across the interior and 70s closer to the coast.

While most of the region will be dry this weekend for any baseball and football games or other outdoor activities, part of the mid-Atlantic, generally south of the Mason-Dixon Line (Maryland-Pennsylvania border), could be dampened by rain on Sunday.